1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to beverage dispensers, and in a preferred embodiment thereof to a counter electric beverage dispenser that is easily convertable from gravity to pressure and vice versa.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Present commercially available beverage dispensers are either gravity dispensers or pressure dispensers. The gravity dispensers employ one or more syrup tanks which are easily filled with syrup as they become empty. Pressure dispensers are fed syrup from pressure systems such as stainless steel syrup tanks (known in this art as figals) pressurized by CO.sub.2 and such as bag-in-box systems in which syrup is pumped from a non-pressurized bag to a dispensing valve. These two types of dispensers (i.e. gravity and pressure) employ different dispensing valves.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a beverage dispenser which can be used as either a gravity dispenser or a pressure dispenser, which can be easily converted from one to the other, and in which each valve can be independently set up for either gravity or pressure operation.
It is another object of the invention to provide a system for cleaning out the gravity syrup lines without requiring the usual drain fitting attached to the low point of the gravity syrup lines.
It is another object of the invention to provide a gravity and/or pressure beverage dispenser in which the syrup is cooled as it flows through oversized syrup tubes located in an ice water bath.
It is another object of this invention to provide a beverage dispenser with a manifold which reduces the cost of the syrup cooling tube, which makes it easier to attach the syrup tube to the dispensing valve, which provides a common connection point for both gravity and pressure systems, which supports the syrup tubes thus eliminating expensive tube supports and/or ties, which allows for variations in syrup cooling line lengths, which acts as an insulator to keep syrup cold after it leaves the ice water bath, and which includes screw connections that allow syrup tubes to be replaced with the same size or different size tubes.